Ukrainian Buchteln with cherry filling – Pyrizhky z Wyschnjamy

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 1 ½ glasses of milk, warm
• 25 g yeast, fresh
• 4 tbsp, levelled sugar
• 6 tbsp, heaped flour
• 2 ½ glasses of flour
• ½ jar oil or butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 jar morello cherries, 720 ml, drained
• 1 tbsp potato starch for dusting
• Oil for the hands

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 40 minutes

fluffy yeast pastry, traditional Ukrainian cuisine

I used a 200 ml glass to measure the dough ingredients. For the starter, mix the warm milk, yeast, sugar, and 6-7 tablespoons of flour in a bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Then, whisk 2 eggs, add them to the starter, add 0.5 cups of oil or melted butter, season with salt, and add 2.5 cups of flour. Mix everything well and knead into an elastic dough. Add a little more flour if necessary. Cover the dough in the bowl again and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. It should triple in size. For the filling, drain the cherries, let them drain well, and dust with potato starch. Once the dough has risen well, form the Buchteln. Oil your hands – I simply keep a small bowl of oil handy when working with this yeast dough. Roll out a tennis ball-sized piece of dough on a board into a small flatbread. Place 4-5 cherries on top, add a pinch of sugar if desired, and press the edges together firmly. Dip one side into the bowl of oil and place them close together on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, seam-down. Once all the Buchteln are formed, cover them with a cloth and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes; they should roughly double in size. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan oven), brush the Buchteln with the beaten egg, and bake until golden brown. Buchteln are baked in Ukraine with all sorts of fillings, including sauerkraut, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, fried minced meat, soaked split peas (traditionally served with borscht), a boiled chopped egg with dill, various berries, poppy seeds, nuts, or apples. These filled Buchteln are a very popular snack in Ukraine.